This was another great story in her series. You can’t help but love the two main characters in the story. You have Sara who is a very smart woman who is running her own business but needs protection. That is when Wes comes in to blend in with her staff while he is also there to protect her from a family member who wishes her harm. Will they both be able to work with each other while they develop feelings or will it wreck his undercover and expose her to being in danger?

Silver Creek Bodyguard by Lindsay McKenna is the fourth book in the Silver Creek contemporary romantic suspense series. In an attempt to hide from her criminal half-brother Manny, Sara Romano has moved to Silver Creek, Wyoming. She’s purchased a Victorian house that had a building behind it that has been renovated into a retail space, lab, and clinic for her herbal remedies business. After several attempts on her life in Texas, she has agreed to a full-time bodyguard that will pose as her assistant. Wes Paxton has just finished a year of physical therapy for a gunshot wound that caused him to shift careers from a Navy SEAL to being employed by a global security company. His first assignment after moving to Wyoming is to protect Sara.

Both Sara and Wes are likeable characters with an immediate attraction and chemistry that develops into friendship and builds slowly over time. Both have histories with emotional and physical traumas that haunt them. However, both also had role models that showed them how people should be treated. I enjoyed seeing how each tried to understand their feelings for the other and how their emotional barriers were gradually broken down. The secondary characters played background roles with several of them being in the previous three books in the series. This helped with continuity and added to the feeling of community that abounds in this series.

The first five chapters give readers a chance to bond with Sara and Wes as well as learn about Sara’s business and the Silver Creek community. Readers also get insight into Manny’s thoughts and actions and the suspense starts to build. With the sixth chapter the action and suspense go into overdrive.

The writing and dialogue gave me a strong sense of Sara’s business and the Silver Creek community. While it is portrayed as very idyllic and somewhat unrealistic, I wanted to believe in it and enjoyed it. This is a community that lives and works as a close family. Neighbor helps neighbor. Of course, this is offset by the introduction of the criminals to bring suspense and danger into this close knit community. The suspense part of this book started somewhat later in the book than I expected, but once it started, there was plenty of action and danger. The sixth chapter is a pivotal moment in the narrative and very memorable as the danger escalates.

This book has a lot of details in it on herbs and herbal remedies. I felt this added depth and made the book more realistic. Additionally, I learned a lot while reading the novel. The author did a fantastic job of transporting me to this community with great world-building. The only steamy scenes in the book are in the last 25 percent of the story. Themes include trust, courage, friendship, respect, romance, PTSD, and helping those in need.

Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed this novel. It was an entertaining book that was emotionally intense at times. The author did a good job of meshing the romance and the suspense without either suffering. I appreciate the balance in the book’s pacing, taking readers from moments of slow-burning plot reveals to shocking action scenes, and outstanding revelations. If you are a fan of contemporary romantic suspense without instant love, then you may want to check out this series. I am looking forward to reading the next book in the series.

Kensington Books – Zebra and Lindsay McKenna provided a complimentary digital ARC of this novel via NetGalley. This is my honest review. Opinions are mine alone and are not biased in any way. Publication date is currently set for March 29, 2022. This review was originally posted at Mystery and Suspense Magazine.

Exciting and page-turning romantic suspense. As usual I skipped over the intimate details. Thanks to the publisher for providing a copy via NetGalley.

I couldn’t invest in the good parts of this book—the action, suspense, and mutual hurt/comfort—because of a very slow beginning, and also because of a few things baked into the main themes. The ongoing anti-patriarchy theme is fairly weak from a feminist standpoint (a lot of talk of equality but still conforming to gender roles, etc) as well as strong implications of TERF ideology (trans-exclusionary radical feminism). For instance, the focus on “both genders” and men vs women leaves no room for nonbinary folks; biological essentialism drives sentences like “men can’t get pregnant.” I also had concerns about the characters’ Native American backgrounds, which felt clunky to me, serving the narrative but not the characters.

I received a digital advanced copy of this book via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

These Silver Creek books <i>always</i> suck me in and don't let go. Silver creek is a little bit of paradise in Wyoming. The people that live there live off the land and are very tightly knit. Mary is a mother figure in the community - she owns a organic food store and basically pushes out renewable and organic sources of food throughout the area. She has recently brought on Sara Romano to be a homeopathic pharmacist and practitioner in the area. Sara is of Native American ancestry and is in Silver Creek primarily to escape her sociopathic brother's bad intentions for her. Wes Paxton is brought in to be Sara's personal bodyguard. He was a Navy Seal and trained as a medic - so he is uniquely positioned to hide in plain sight. Wes has been through a lot in his life - but he is very open to the way Sara lives and operates.

To read these books you have to be very open to the crunchier side of life. These books go to great pains to show the benefits of living cleanly and falling on the side of the matriarchy.

I liked so much about this one - it is very exciting and I loved Wes. Sara read to me as someone older than she was portrayed in the book - from what she wears to how she acts - I read her more as someone in her 50s that a 20 or 30 something. That's not necessarily a bad thing - but it felt a little off. And as much as I agree with and support the concepts the author pushes forward in the book, some parts of it can come off as a bit preachy. I wish we lived in a world that was more like silver creek - but alas....

Overall - this is another solid entry into this little piece of paradise.

I received this book as an ARC from NetGalley, but these opinions are all my own.

Silver Creek Bodyguard by Lindsay McKenna is the fourth book in the Silver Creek series. I was so excited to read this book that I didn’t even wait to close when the book was due. I love the series so far and wanted to read the next book. Silver Creek set in Wyoming and where this next series is set. Each novel in the series focuses on a different couple - Wes and Sara are in this novel.

Wes Paxton, a member of an elite security firm, has been hired to watch Sara Romano. Sara is hiding from the rest of her family as they are trying to kill her. Wes is hired by her Mom, while Sara is starting an herbal business in Silver Creek. It is clear from the beginning that Sara and Wes have a connection - what is not clear is how hard they need to work to stay alive. The story is exciting almost from the beginning! Silver Creek Bodyguard by Lindsay McKenna is a great read.

I received an arc from NetGalley and this is my honest opinion.
Wes and Sara meet after Wes is assigned to be her bodyguard. The moment Wes meets Sara he knows she is special and Sara feels the same about Wes.
But trouble is lurking near and Wes and Sara are running for their lives. Lots of intense moments in this book and a lot of time spent getting out of the woods.
As they are on the run they grow closer and realize they don’t want to be alone anymore.
Great read.

Lindsay McKenna brings us back to Silver Creek, Wyoming with Sara and Wes. Sara is being hunted by her past and moves to Silver Creek to hide out and starts her new life there. Veteran SEAL Wes is assigned to protect her. Working together brings them closer together. It also brings up the reasons why each of them are there and hiding from the world.

Lindsay McKenna brings us another chapter in her Silver Creek series where we meet Sara and Wes. Each have a past that must be dealt with before they can move on to their future. But will they allow each other in enough to heal and get past it all, or will it just get in the way and drive them apart? Lindsay brings us love, friendship, and intrigue as the action brings it all to the front and they discover what is truly important in life.

I enjoyed reading Sara and Wes' story and look forward to meeting more people in Silver Creek. It is always nice to catch up with the people there and see what is going on in their lives from the last time we met. I received an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own. I would like to thank NetGalley and Kensington Books, Zebra for this privilege.

Part of a series but works as a standalone. Wes is a former SEAL relocating to Wyoming for a new security company. His first assignment is Sara, an herbalist. Sara's Italian father is in prison and her half-brother wants to eliminate her to gain her inheritance. There's a good romance and solid action in this story, however it takes a wandering path to get to the meat.

ARC via Net Galley. All opinions are my own.

Sarah is hiding out in SIlver Creek because her half brother and his mob are trying to kill her. Wes is an ex-SEAL who just mustered out due to an injury and is assigned to be her bodyguard/assistant. As they try to escape the killers their bond grows toward a thrilling HEA.
This thriller has several layers. There is the SEAL protection and escape thrilling escape scenes. Wes offers Sara his protection and his yearning for her love. But there is also Sara’s Native American warrior theme, the herbalist side, and last, the exploration of matriarchy theme.
This book is part of the Silver Creek series but could easily be read as a standalone. I would recommend this book to my patrons.

Paperbacks aren’t purchased by this library but are donated. This is a book I would purchase for myself to read and would also recommend to others. It’s a story about Sara Romano and Wes Paxton. Sara was being stalked by her stepbrother Manny. He didn’t like the fact that Sara would receive their father’s legitimate business due to a divorce decree if anything happened to their father who was in prison for fraud and money laundering. Sara had a body guard Wes Paxton who was an orphan who made the military his family by joining the U S Navy and becoming a seal. Interesting story.

A lovely story, slow build romance with an undercurrent of suspense and drama.

I hadn’t read any previous books in this series but don’t at all feel that this impacted my enjoyment at all.

Strong and well developed and described characters, the author has a really descriptive style of writing so I felt I really understood the lead characters, their backgrounds and their thoughts and feelings throughout the book.

Wes is keen to move on from his exit from the Teams, and post recovery from his injury, picks up a role as a bodyguard in a company led by his ex Team leader. He immediately is assigned to be Sara’s bodyguard and despite best intentions he falls for her at first sight.

Sara is independent and self aware, hiding from her step brother in an effort to stop him from killing her for her inheritance. A vegan botanist, she uses her healing skills to help people in her local community and falls equally fast for Wes.

I enjoyed reading this book, I liked the characters and thought the storyline was interesting and well developed over the course of the book

Personally I found the authors writing style very descriptive, I understand this will absolutely be adored by some people but for me it was a little overdone at time, I’m fairly sure I could perfectly recreate the meals they prepared together for instance.
That being said, when it came to the feelings of the characters, this style did work well here.

Sara is being stalked by her half-brother. If she dies he gets their father’s money. Wes is hired to be her body guard, and the sparks fly. She is a herbalist,, so a lot of the story is on that, which was interesting. Would recommend.